Brooke Shields admits change is 'hard to accept as a mom' while daughter studies abroad
Brooke Shields is watching her oldest daughter, Rowan, hit milestones right before her eyes — and emotions are running high.
In 2021, Rowan left home to attend college at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, and Shields described dropping her off on campus as the "saddest drive away from anywhere." Now, while being honored at Glamour's 2023 Women of the Year Awards, Shields tells TODAY.com that her daughter has made a move yet again — this time, to an entirely different continent.
"It's the worst, it's the absolute worst. It was bad enough when she went to college, now she's hours later and I can't find her and I get pictures of her escapades," the “Suddenly Susan” star says of her daughter living in Europe.
As a surprise to no one, @BrookeShields’ love for her daughters is FIERCE and I LOVE that about her ❤️ Such a mama bear! #GlamourWOTY pic.twitter.com/tQXb6HVUPw
— Nicoletta Richardson (@nicolettarich) November 8, 2023
Shields goes on to say that the life change is “hard to accept as a mom” but that she’s “keeping strong” in the best way she knows how: by checking her phone locator to see where her 20-year-old is.
"I've got my locater on so I can find her. If I can't get it, I find her, I'm like, 'I can't find you. Trust me, you want me to be able to find you, and then I'll leave you alone,'" she teases.
To make it emotionally easier on herself, the model decided to say goodbye to her daughter from the comfort of home while she tasked her husband, Chris Henchy, with dropping Rowan off at the airport. Their younger daughter, Grier, also joined him.
"I wouldn't take her, my husband took her. I left her at the curb in front of where we live," Shields recalls, saying that she "cannot handle" going to the airport.
“I will embarrass you” — @BrookeShields telling her husband she can’t go to the airport to see their daughter off. Granted, it’s because she’d be too sad, but going to use this persuasive method moving forward 😂 #GlamourWOTY pic.twitter.com/agLYoZlV9n
— Nicoletta Richardson (@nicolettarich) November 8, 2023
"I was like (to Henchy), 'You drive her. I'm going to be right here but I cannot do an airport, I will embarrass you.'"
However, Shields will break her no-airport rule soon enough when the entire family goes to visit Rowan overseas for Thanksgiving.
"My daughter is studying over in Europe so she can't come home because she doesn't have a real Thanksgiving break so we're all going to go see her. It's going to be fun, we're going to have to find turkey, but maybe not, maybe we'll just have something else."
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
